A brief history of western civilization perry vol II from 1400s

Western Civilization
A Brief History
Seventh Edition


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Western Civilization
A Brief History
Volume II: From the 1400s
Seventh Edition

Marvin Perry
Baruch College
City University of New York

George W. Bock, Editorial Associate

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Western Civilization: A Brief History,
Volume II: From the 1400s, Seventh Edition
Marvin Perry
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Brief Contents

Part Three
The Rise of Modernity: From the
Renaissance to the Enlightenment
1350–1789
182
Chapter 8

Transition to the Modern Age:
Renaissance and Reformation 184

Chapter 12

The Industrial Revolution:
The Transformation of Society

294

Chapter 13

Thought and Culture in the
Early Nineteenth Century 310
Chapter 14

Chapter 9

Political and Economic
Transformation: National
States, Overseas Expansion,
Commercial Revolution 210

Surge of Liberalism and
Nationalism: Revolution,
Counterrevolution, and
Unification 327
Chapter 15

Chapter 10

Intellectual Transformation:
The Scientific Revolution and the
Age of Enlightenment 238

Thought and Culture in the
Mid-Nineteenth Century:
Realism and Social Criticism

349

Chapter 16

Part Four
The Modern West: Progress and
Breakdown 1789–1914
266

Europe in the Late Nineteenth
Century: Modernization,
Nationalism, Imperialism 366

Chapter 11

Chapter 17

The Era of the French Revolution:
Affirmation of Liberty and
Equality 268

Modern Consciousness: New Views
of Nature, Human Nature, and
the Arts 397

v


vi ❖ Brief Contents
Part Five

Part Six

Western Civilization in Crisis:
World Wars and Totalitarianism
1914–1945
420

The Contemporary
World
520

Chapter 18

The West in a Global Age

Chapter 21

522

World War I: The West in Despair 422
Chapter 19

An Era of Totalitarianism

455

Chapter 20

World War II: Western Civilization
in the Balance 496

Epilogue: Reaffirming the Core
Values of the Western Tradition 561
Index I-1


Contents

Maps xv
Chronologies xvi
Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xxiii
Introduction xxv

Part Three
The Rise of Modernity: From the
Renaissance to the Enlightenment
1350–1789
182
Chapter 8

Transition to the Modern Age:
Renaissance and Reformation 184
Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance 186
The Renaissance Outlook 187
Humanism 189
A Revolution in Political Thought 190
Renaissance Art 191
The Spread of the Renaissance 194
Erasmian Humanism 194

French and English Humanism 195
The Renaissance and the Modern Age 196
Background to the Reformation:
The Medieval Church in Crisis 196
The Lutheran Revolt 197
The Break with Catholicism 198
The Appeal and Spread of
Lutheranism 200

The Spread of the Reformation 200
Calvinism 201
France 202
England 203
The Radical Reformation 203
The Catholic Response 205
The Reformation and the Modern Age 206
Primary Source: Leonardo Bruni, Study
of Greek Literature and a Humanist
Educational Program 208
Chapter 9

Political and Economic
Transformation: National
States, Overseas Expansion,
Commercial Revolution 210
Toward the Modern State 212
Hapsburg Spain 213
Ferdinand and Isabella 213
The Reign of Charles V: King of Spain and
Holy Roman Emperor 214

Philip II 216
The End of the Spanish Hapsburgs 216
The Growth of French Power 217
Religion and the French State 217
The Consolidation of French Monarchical
Power 218
The Growth of Limited Monarchy and
Constitutionalism in England 220
The Tudor Achievement 220
The English Revolution, 1640–1660 and
1688–1689 221

vii


viii ❖

Contents

The Holy Roman Empire: The Failure to
Unify Germany 223
European Expansion 225
Forces Behind the Expansion 225
The Portuguese Empire 226
The Spanish Empire 227
Black Slavery and the Slave Trade 228
The Price Revolution 229
The Expansion of Agriculture 229
The Expansion of Trade and Industry 231
Innovations in Business 231

Different Patterns of Commercial
Development 232
England and the Netherlands 232
France and Spain 232
The Fostering of Mercantile Capitalism 233
Toward a Global Economy 235
Primary Source: Seventeenth-Century Slave
Traders: Buying and Transporting
Africans 236

Seventeenth-Century Antecedents: Hobbes
and Locke 250
Montesquieu 251
Voltaire 252
Rousseau 253
Social and Economic Thought 254
Epistemology, Psychology, and
Education 254
Freedom of Conscience and Thought 255
Humanitarianism 255
Laissez-Faire Economics 257
The Idea of Progress 258
Conflicts and Politics 259
Warfare and Revolution 259
Enlightened Despotism 260
The Enlightenment and the Modern
Mentality 260
Primary Source: René Descartes, Discourse on
Method 263

Part Four
Chapter 10

Intellectual Transformation:
The Scientific Revolution and the
Age of Enlightenment 238
The Medieval View of the Universe 239
A New View of Nature 240
Nicolaus Copernicus: The Dethronement
of the Earth 240
Galileo: Uniformity of Nature and
Experimental Physics 241
Attack on Authority 243
Johannes Kepler: Laws of Planetary
Motion 243
The Newtonian Synthesis 244
Prophets of Modern Science 245
Francis Bacon: The Inductive
Method 245
René Descartes: The Deductive Method 245
The Meaning of the Scientific Revolution 246
The Age of Enlightenment: Affirmation of
Reason and Freedom 248
Christianity Assailed: The Search for a
Natural Religion 249
Political Thought 250

The Modern West: Progress and
Breakdown 1789–1914
266

Chapter 11

The Era of the French Revolution:
Affirmation of Liberty and
Equality 268
The Old Regime 269
The First Estate 269
The Second Estate 269
The Third Estate 270
The Bourgeoisie 270
The Peasantry 271
Urban Laborers 271
Inefficient Administration and
Financial Disorder 271
The Roles of the Enlightenment and the
American Revolution 272
A Bourgeois Revolution? 273
The Moderate Stage, 1789–1791 274
Formation of the National
Assembly 274
Storming of the Bastille 274


Contents ❖

The Great Fear 275
October Days 276
Reforms of the National
Assembly 276
The Radical Stage, 1792–1794 277

The Sans-Culottes 278
Foreign Invasion 278
The Jacobins 279
The Nation in Arms 280
The Republic of Virtue and the Reign of
Terror 280
The Fall of Robespierre 282
Napoleon and France: Return to
Autocratic Rule 283
An Enlightened Despot 284
Legal, Educational, and Financial
Policies 285
Napoleon and Europe: Diffusion of
Revolutionary Institutions 285
The Fall of Napoleon 287
Failure to Subdue England 287
The Spanish Ulcer 287
Disaster in Russia 288
The German War of Liberation 288
Final Defeat 289
The Meaning of the French Revolution 289
Primary Source: Maximilien Robespierre,
Republic of Virtue 292
Chapter 12

The Industrial Revolution:
The Transformation of Society 294
Britain First 295
Changes in Technology 296
The Cotton Industry 296

The Steam Engine 297
The Iron Industry 297
Transportation 297
Society Transformed 297
Changes in Social Structure 298
Working-Class Life 300
The Rise of Reform in Britain 301
Responses to Industrialization 304
Liberalism 304
Early Socialism 305

ix

Saint-Simon 305
Fourier 305
Owen 306
Industrialism in Perspective 307
Primary Source: Edward Baines,The Factory
System 308
Chapter 13

Thought and Culture in the
Early Nineteenth Century 310
Romanticism: A New Cultural
Orientation 311
Exalting Imagination and Feelings 311
Nature, God, History 313
The Impact of the Romantic
Movement 314
German Idealism 315

The Challenge Posed by Hume’s
Empiricism 315
Immanuel Kant 315
G. W. F. Hegel 316
Conservatism: The Value of
Tradition 318
Hostility to the French Revolution 318
The Quest for Social Stability 319
Liberalism: The Value of the Individual 319
The Sources of Liberalism 320
Individual Liberty 320
Liberalism and Democracy 321
Nationalism: The Sacredness of the
Nation 321
The Emergence of Modern
Nationalism 322
Nationalism and Liberalism 323
Primary Source: Joseph de Maistre,
Arch-Conservative 324
Chapter 14

Surge of Liberalism and
Nationalism: Revolution,
Counterrevolution, and
Unification 327
The Congress of Vienna 329
Statesmen and Issues 329


x ❖

Contents

The Settlement 329
Revolutions, 1820–1829 330
Revolutions, 1830–1832 332
The Revolutions of 1848: France 333
The February Revolution 333
The June Days: Revolution of the
Oppressed 333
The Revolutions of 1848: Germany,
Austria, and Italy 335
The German States: Liberalism
Discredited 335
Austria: Hapsburg Dominance 337
Italy: Continued Fragmentation 338
The Revolutions of 1848: An
Assessment 339
The Unification of Italy 340
Mazzini: The Soul of the
Risorgimento 341
Cavour and Victory over Austria 341
Garibaldi and Victory in the South 342
Italian Unification Completed 342
The Unification of Germany 342
Prussia, Agent of Unification 342
Bismarck and the Road to Unity 343
Wars with Denmark and Austria 343
The Triumph of Nationalism and
Conservatism over Liberalism 344

War with France 344
Nationality Problems in the
Hapsburg Empire 345
Primary Source: Alexis de Tocqueville, The June
Days 347
Chapter 15

Thought and Culture in the
Mid-Nineteenth Century:
Realism and Social Criticism
Realism and Naturalism 350
Positivism 351
Darwinism 352
Natural Selection 352
Darwinism and Christianity
Social Darwinism 353
Marxism 355
A Science of History 355

353

349

Class Conflict 357
The Destruction of Capitalism 357
Critics of Marx 358
Liberalism in Transition 359
John Stuart Mill 359
Thomas Hill Green 360
Feminism: Extending the Principle of

Equality 361
Primary Source: Charles Darwin,
The Descent of Man 363
Chapter 16

Europe in the Late Nineteenth
Century: Modernization,
Nationalism, Imperialism 366
The Advance of Industry 368
Accelerated Urbanization 369
The Rise of Socialist Parties 370
Great Britain: Reform and Unrest 371
Social Reform 371
Feminist Agitation 372
The Irish Question 373
France: A Troubled Nation 373
Germany: The Power State 374
Italy: Unfulfilled Expectations 376
Russia: Tsarist Autocracy 376
The Rise of Racial Nationalism 378
Volkish Thought 380
Anti-Semitism: The Power and
Danger of Mythical Thinking 381
The Emergence of the New Imperialism 384
Causes 384
Control and Resistance 385
European Domination of Asia 385
India 385
China 388
Japan 389

The Scramble for Africa 391
The Berlin Conference 391
The British in Africa 391
Other European Countries in Africa 394
The Legacy of Imperialism 394
Primary Source: The Pan-German League,
Extreme Racial Nationalism 395


Contents ❖

Chapter 17

Modern Consciousness: New Views
of Nature, Human Nature, and
the Arts 397
Irrationalism 398
Nietzsche 398
Bergson 401
Sorel 402
Freud: A New View of Human Nature 402
Social Thought: Confronting the
Irrational and the Complexities of
Modern Society 406
Durkheim 406
Pareto 407
Weber 407
The Modernist Movement 408
Breaking with Conventional Modes
of Esthetics 408

Modern Art 410
Modern Physics 411
The Enlightenment Tradition
in Disarray 414
Primary Source: Friedrich Nietzche,
The Will to Power 416

Part Five
Western Civilization in Crisis:
World Wars and Totalitarianism
1914–1945
420
Chapter 18

World War I: The West in Despair 422
Aggravated Nationalist Tensions in
Austria-Hungary 423
The German System of Alliances 426
The New German Empire 426
Bismarck’s Goals 426
The Triple Entente 427
Fear of Germany 427
German Reactions 427
The Drift Toward War 428
The Bosnian Crisis 428
Balkan Wars 428

xi

Assassination of Francis Ferdinand 429

Germany Encourages Austria 429
The Question of Responsibility 430
War as Celebration 432
Stalemate in the West 433
Other Fronts 437
The Collapse of the Central Powers 438
American Entry 438
Germany’s Last Offensive 438
The Peace Conference 439
Wilson’s Hope for a New World 439
Problems of Peacemaking 441
The Settlement 441
Assessment and Problems 443
The Russian Revolution of 1917 443
The Problems of the Provisional
Government 445
Lenin and the Rise of Bolshevism 446
Lenin’s Opportunity 448
The Bolsheviks Survive 448
The War and European Consciousness 448
Art Essay: Art as History: The Renaissance
to the Present after 448
Primary Source: Friedrich von Bernhardi,
Germany and the Next War 452
Chapter 19

An Era of Totalitarianism

455

The Nature of Totalitarianism 457
Communist Russia 458
War Communism and the New
Economic Policy 459
One-Party Dictatorship 459
The Stalin Revolution 461
Modernizing Russia: Industrialization and
Collectivization 461
Total Control 464
The Nature and Appeal of Fascism 466
The Rise of Fascism in Italy 468
Postwar Unrest 468
Mussolini’s Seizure of Power 468
The Fascist State in Italy 469
The New German Republic 470
Threats from Left and Right 471


xii ❖

Contents

Economic Crisis 471
Fundamental Weaknesses of the
Weimar Republic 472
The Rise of Hitler 472
The Nazi Party 473
Hitler’s World-View 473
Racial Nationalism 473
The Jew as Devil 474

The Importance of Propaganda 474
Hitler Gains Power 475
Nazi Germany 475
The Leader-State 476
Shaping the “New Man” 477
Mass Support 479
Liberalism and Authoritarianism in
Other Lands 480
The Spread of Authoritarianism 480
Spain and Portugal 480
Eastern and Central Europe 480
The Western Democracies 480
The United States 480
Britain 481
France 481
Intellectuals and Artists in
Troubled Times 482
Postwar Pessimism 482
Literature and Art: Innovation,
Disillusionment, and Social
Commentary 483
Communism: “The God That
Failed” 486
Reaffirming the Christian
World-View 487
Reaffirming the Ideals of Reason and
Freedom 487
Existentialism 488
The Modern Predicament 490
Primary Source: Ernst Huber, "The Authority of

the Fuhrer Is . . . All-Inclusive and
Unlimited" 492
Chapter 20

World War II: Western
Civilization in the
Balance 496

The Road to War 497
British and French Foreign Policies 497
Breakdown of Peace 498
Remilitarization of the
Rhineland 498
Spanish Civil War 499
Anschluss with Austria 500
Sudetenland, Munich, Prague 500
Poland 501
The Nazi Blitzkrieg 501
The Conquest of Poland 501
The Fall of France 502
The Battle of Britain 503
The Invasion of Russia 504
The New Order 506
Exploitation and Terror 506
The Holocaust 507
Resistance 509
The Turn of the Tide 510
The Japanese Offensive 510
Defeat of the Axis Powers 512
The Legacy of World War II 514

Primary Source: Historical Division, War
Department, Omaha Beachhead 517

Part Six
The Contemporary World
Chapter 21

The West in a Global Age
The Cold War 523
Origins 523
Cold War Mobilization 523
Confrontations 525
Korean War 525
Cuban Missile Crisis 525
Vietnam War 525
Decolonization 527
Building a New Europe:
Unity and Recovery 528
Great Britain and France 528
Italy and Germany 529
The Soviet Bloc 530
Stalin’s Last Years 530

522

520


Contents ❖

Khrushchev 531
Changes in Eastern Europe 533
The Gorbachev Years 535
The End of the Cold War 535
The Collapse of Communism 536
1989: The Year of Liberation 536
The Disintegration of the Soviet
Union 539
The Death of an Ideal? 540
The Post–Cold War World 540
Post-Communist Russia and the Former
Soviet Republics 540
Yeltsin’s “Shock Therapy” 540
Putin: Clamping Down 541
The Former Soviet Republics 543

Central and Eastern Europe
After 1989 543
The European Union 546
New and Old Threats: Muslim
Immigration and the Resurgence
of Anti-Semitism 549
Muslim Immigration 549
Resurgence of Anti-Semitism 550
Our Global Age: Cultural Clashes and
Terrorism 552
Primary Source: Osama bin Laden Jihad
Against Crusaders and Jews 558
Epilogue: Reaffirming the Core
Values of the Western Tradition 561

Index I-1

xiii


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Maps

8.1 The Protestant and the Catholic Reformations
204
9.1 Europe, 1648
224
11.1 Napoleon’s Europe, 1810
286
14.1 Europe’s Age of Revolutions
336
16.1 Asia in 1914
387
16.2 Africa in 1914
392
18.1 Various Ethnic Groups in Europe Before World War
425
18.2 World War I, 1914–1918
434
18.3 Post-World War I: Broken Empires and Changed Boundaries
20.1 World War II: The European Theater
505
20.2 World War II: The Pacific Theater

511
21.1 Western Europe After 1945
526
21.2 Eastern Europe After 1945
532
21.3 Post–Cold War Europe and the Former Soviet Union
537

440

xv


Chronologies

Comparative Chronology Part Three The Rise of Modernity
183
Chronology 8.1
The Renaissance and the Reformation
187
Chronology 9.1
Economic and Political Transformations
213
Chronology 10.1
The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
Comparative Chronology Part Four The Modern West
Chronology 11.1
The French Revolution
270
Chronology 11.2

Napoleon’s Career
283
Chronology 12.1
The Industrial Revolution
296
Chronology 14.1
The Surge of Nationalism
330
Chronology 16.1
Expansion of Western Power
369
Comparative Chronology Part Five
Chronology 18.1
World War I

267

Western Civilization in Crisis
424

Comparative Chronology Part Six The Contemporary World
Chronology 21.1
Europe After 1945
524

xvi

240

421

521


Geography of Europe

The map on the following pages shows the continent
of Europe and the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. It gives the names and countries and their
capitals and indicates the physical features of the
land, such as major rivers and other bodies of water,
mountains, and changes in elevation. A knowledge
of the geography of this area will help give a sense
of the connection between geography and history: of
how the characteristics of the terrain and the availability of rivers and other bodies of water affected
the movement of people and the relationship between people and the environment throughout history.
Europe is the smallest continent in the world with
the exception of Australia. The other continents are
Africa, Asia, North America, South America, and
Antarctica. The continent of Europe, which can be
viewed as the western extension of the Asian landmass, is distinctive in its configuration. Peninsulas
make up a significant portion of its land area. This
feature gives Europe an unusually long coastline,
equal in distance to one and a half times around the
equator (37,877 miles). Europe’s western boundary is
the Atlantic Ocean; the Ural Mountains, Ural River,
and Caspian Sea—in Russia and Kazakhstan—form
its eastern boundary. The European continent extends
southward to the Caucasus Mountains, the Black
Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, and northward to
the Arctic Ocean. Off the mainland but considered
by geographers to be part of Europe are thousands of

islands, most notably the British Isles to the northwest.
The small size of the European continent often
surprises North Americans. France, for example,
covers less geographic area than Texas, and England
is similar in size to Alabama. The distance from London to Paris is about the same as from New York to

Boston; the distance from Berlin to Moscow is comparable to that from Chicago to Denver. And the entire continent of Europe is about the size of Canada.
Major Peninsulas and Islands There are five major
European peninsulas: the Iberian (Portugal and
Spain); the Apennine (Italy); the Balkan (Albania,
Bulgaria, Greece, and parts of the former Yugoslavia
and Turkey); the Scandinavian (Norway and Sweden); and Jutland (Denmark). Ireland and the United
Kingdom of England, Wales, and Scotland make up
the British Isles. Major islands of the Mediterranean
Sea include the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia,
Sicily, Crete, and Cyprus.
Seas, Lakes, and Rivers Europe’s irregular coastline divides large areas of the surrounding waters
into bays, gulfs, and seas. Located in the Mediterranean Sea are, from west to east, the Tyrrhenian Sea
(bordered by Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica), the
Adriatic Sea (between Italy and the former Yugoslavia), the Ionian Sea (between Italy and Greece), and
the Aegean Sea (between Greece and Turkey).
The Baltic Sea, in the north, is bordered by Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany,
and Sweden. Narrow channels connect it to the
North Sea, which lies between Great Britain and the
countries of the northwestern mainland. The English
Channel separates England and France, and the Bay
of Biscay is bounded by the west coast of France and
the north coast of Spain. The Black Sea, on the
southern border of Russia and the Ukraine, is linked
by water passages to the Aegean Sea. The Caspian

Sea, which lies partly in Russia and Kazakhstan, and
partly in Asia, is the world’s largest saltwater lake.
At ninety-two feet below sea level, it is also the lowest point in Europe.




Europe’s many rivers have served as transportation routes for thousands of years. Several of the
major rivers, including the longest, flow across the
Russian plain. The Volga, Europe’s longest river
(2,194 miles), rises west of Moscow and empties into
the Caspian Sea; canals and other river systems link
it to the Arctic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. The Dnieper
flows south through the agricultural heartland of the
Ukraine into the Black Sea.
The second longest river, the Danube (1,777
miles), is the principal waterway in southeastern Europe. Originating in Germany, it flows through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, the former Yugoslavia,
Bulgaria, and Romania and into the Black Sea. The
Rhine winds northward from the Alps, through
western Germany and the Netherlands, to the North
Sea, which is also the destination of the Elbe River
in eastern Germany. In France, the Rhône flows
south into the Mediterranean, and the Seine and
Loire flow west to the English Channel and the Bay
of Biscay. Other important waterways are the Po in
northern Italy, the Vistula in Poland, and the Thames
in England.
The proximity of most areas of the European
landmass to the coastline or to major river systems
is important to understanding the historical development of European civilization. Trading routes

evolved and major cities grew along these waterways, and rivers have served as natural boundaries.
Land Regions Despite its small size, Europe presents a wide range of landforms, from rugged mountains to sweeping plains. These landforms can be
separated into four major regions: the Northwest
Mountains, the Great European Plain, the Central
Uplands, and the Alpine Mountain System. The

mountains of the northwest cover most of that region, running through northwestern France, Ireland,
Scotland, Norway, Sweden, northern Finland, and
the northwestern corner of Russia.
The Great European Plain spreads across almost
the entire European part of the former Soviet Union,
extending from the Arctic Ocean to the Caucasus
Mountains. It stretches westward across Poland,
Germany, Belgium, the western portion of France,
and southeastern England.
The Central Uplands are a belt of high plateaus,
hills, and low mountains. This belt reaches from the
central plateau of Portugal, across Spain and the
central highlands of France, to the hills and mountains of southern Germany, the Czech Republic, and
Slovakia.
The Alpine Mountain System comprises several
mountain chains. Within it lie the Pyrenees, between
Spain and France; the Alps in southeastern France,
northern Italy, Switzerland, and western Austria,
and the Apennine range in Italy. Also included are
the mountain ranges of the Balkan Peninsula, the
Carpathian Mountains in Slovakia, Poland, and Romania, and the Caucasus Mountains between the
Black and Caspian Seas. Throughout history, these
mountain ranges have been formidable barriers and
boundaries, affecting the movement of people and

the relationship of people to each other and to the
land.
When studying the map of Europe, it is important
to notice the proximity of western regions of Asia—
especially those at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea—to parts of North Africa. The cultures of
these areas have not only interacted with those of
Europe, but they have also played a significant role
in shaping the history of Western civilization.


Preface

Western civilization is a grand but tragic drama.
The West has forged the instruments of reason
that make possible a rational comprehension of
physical nature and human culture, conceived the
idea of political liberty, and recognized the intrinsic worth of the individual. But the modern West,
though it has unraveled nature’s mysteries, has
been less successful at finding rational solutions to
social ills and conflicts between nations. Science, a
great achievement of the Western intellect, while
improving conditions of life, has also produced
weapons of mass destruction. Though the West
has pioneered in the protection of human rights, it
has also produced totalitarian regimes that have
trampled on individual freedom and human dignity. And although the West has demonstrated a
commitment to human equality, it has also practiced brutal racism.
Western Civilization: A Brief History, Seventh
Edition, is an abridged version of Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Ninth Edition.
Like the longer text, this volume examines those

unique patterns of thought and systems of values
that constitute the Western heritage. While focusing on key ideas and broad themes, the text also
provides economic, political, and social history
for students in Western Civilization courses.
The text is written with the conviction that history is not a meaningless tale. Without knowledge
of history, men and women cannot fully know
themselves, for all human beings have been shaped
by institutions and values inherited from the past.
Without an awareness of the historical evolution
of reason and freedom, the dominant ideals of

Western civilization, commitment to these ideals
will diminish. Without knowledge of history, the
West cannot fully comprehend or adequately cope
with the problems that burden its civilization and
the world.
In attempting to make sense out of the past, the
author has been careful to avoid superficial generalizations that oversimplify historical events and
forces and arrange history into too neat a structure. But the text does strive to interpret and synthesize in order to provide students with a frame
of reference with which to comprehend the principal events and eras in Western history.

CHANGES IN THE
SEVENTH EDITION
For the seventh edition, most chapters have been
reworked to some extent. The numerous carefully
selected modifications and additions significantly
enhance the text. Some changes deepen the book’s
conceptual character; others provide useful and illustrative historical details. The most significant
addition for the seventh edition is the insertion in
every chapter of a primary source that illuminates

the narrative. Included among the documents in
Volume I are excerpts from the works of Mesopotamian literature, Isaiah, Euripides, Aelius Aristides, Saint Benedict of Nursia, Bishop Adalbero
of Laon, Peter Abelard, Leonardo Bruni, seventeenth-century slave traders, and René Descartes.
Included among the documents in Volume II are

xvii


xviii ❖

Preface

excerpts from the works of Leonardo Bruni, seventeenth-century slave traders, René Descartes,
Maximilien Robespierre, Edward Baines, Joseph
de Maistre, Alexis de Tocqueville, Charles Darwin, the Pan-German League, Friedrich Nietzsche,
Friedrich von Bernhardi, Ernst Huber, the Historical Division of the War Department, and Osama
bin Laden. In the sixth edition, following the suggestions of instructors who had used the text
through many editions, we dispensed with the review questions at the end of each chapter. Instead
we inserted several focus questions at the beginning of each chapter that served to guide students’
reading of the chapter. We retain this approach in
the seventh edition.
Chapter 1, “The Ancient Near East,” includes
an addition to the end section, “A Myth-Making
World-View.” In Chapter 2, “The Hebrews,” we
have added a discussion of the scholarly debate
initiated by Biblical minimalists who question the
historicity of the Exodus and we have expanded
the concluding section, “The Legacy of the Ancient Jews.” In addition to several brief insertions
that enhance the understanding of events and
concepts in Chapter 3, “The Greeks: From Myth

to Reason,” we have upgraded the sections on
Homer, Hellenistic philosophy, and the end piece,
“The Greek Achievement: Reason, Freedom, and
Humanism.” As in the previous chapter, several
insertions in Chapter 4, “Rome from City-State to
World Empire,” shed light on events and concepts. In addition, we have deepened the treatment of Rome’s decline and the end piece, “The
Roman Legacy.” Among the numerous additions
in Chapter 5, “Early Christianity: A World Religion,” are deeper discussions of Jesus and Paul,
Christian-Roman relations, and Christian-Jewish
relations. And as in several other chapters,
we have improved the concluding section,
“Christianity and Classical Humanism: Alternative World-Views.”
The most significant changes in the two chapters on the Middle Ages are somewhat expanded
treatments of Charlemagne’s empire and its
breakup, medieval thought and architecture, and
the end piece, “The Middle Ages and the Modern
World.” Chapter 11, “The Era of the French Revolution: Affirmation of Liberty and Equality,”
contains expanded sections on the Jacobins and
the Terror; and the section, “The Fall of Napo-

leon,” has been restructured. The discussion of
nationalism in Chapter 13, “Thought and Culture in the Early Nineteenth Century,” has been
somewhat amplified as has the treatment of
the Revolution of 1848 in Chapter 14, “Surge of
Liberalism and Nationalism.” In Chapter 16,
“Europe in the Late Nineteenth Century: Modernization, Nationalism, Imperialism,” we have
enhanced the treatment of racial nationalism.
Chapter 17, “Modern Consciousness: New Views
of Nature, Human Nature, and the Arts,” benefits
from several insertions that illuminate the chapter’s key themes. In Chapter 18, “World War I:

The West in Despair,” much greater attention is
now given to the question of responsibility and
more detail has been added to the description of
trench warfare and the end piece, “The War and
European Consciousness.”
Chapter 19, “An Era of Totalitarianism,” contains new material on both Communist and Nazi
efforts at total control. In Chapter 20, “World
War II, Western Civilization in the Balance,”
more attention is now given to the fall of France,
Hitler’s New Order, including the Holocaust, and
D-Day and its immediate aftermath. Chapter 21,
“The West in a Global Age,” has been updated,
particularly the sections dealing with the European Union, Russia today, the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and Al Qaeda and Islamic terrorism. Additionally, two new sections have been
added to the chapter on the problem of integrating Muslim immigrants into European society
and the revival of anti-Semitism in European
lands. Finally, some changes have been made in
the art essays.

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
This brief edition was prepared for Western Civilization courses that run for one term only, for instructors who like to supplement the main text
with primary source readers, novels, or monographs, and for humanities courses in which additional works on literature and art will be
assigned. In abbreviating the longer text by about
a third, the number of chapters has been reduced
from 34 to 21. The emphasis on the history of
ideas and culture has been retained, but the
amount of detail has of necessity been reduced.


Preface

The text contains several pedagogical features.
Chapter introductions provide comprehensive
overviews of key themes and give a sense of
direction and coherence to the flow of history.
Chronologies at the beginning of most chapters
show the sequence of important events discussed
in the chapter. Many chapters contain concluding
essays that treat the larger meaning of the material. Facts have been carefully selected to illustrate
key relationships and concepts and to avoid overwhelming students with unrelated and disconnected data. Each chapter concludes with an
annotated bibliography.
This text is published in both single-volume
and two-volume editions. Volume I treats the period from the first civilizations in the Near East
through the age of Enlightenment in the eighteenth
century (Chapters 1–10). Volume II covers the period from the Renaissance and the Reformation to
the contemporary age (Chapters 8–21), and incorporates the last three chapters in Volume I: “Transition to the Modern Age: Renaissance and
Reformation,” “Political and Economic Transformation: National States, Overseas Expansion,
Commercial Revolution,” and “Intellectual Transformation: The Scientific Revolution and the Age
of Enlightenment.” Volume II also contains a
comprehensive introduction that surveys the ancient world and the Middle Ages; the introduction
is designed particularly for students who have not
taken the first half of the course.

ANCILLARIES
Instructor Resources
PowerLecture CD-ROM with ExamView® and
JoinIn® This dual platform, all-in-one multimedia
resource includes the Instructor’s Resource Manual; Test Bank, revised to reflect the new material in
the text by Joseph Appiah of J. Sargeant Reynolds
Community College (includes multiple-choice questions, key term identifications, map questions, and
essay questions); Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides

of both lecture outlines and images and maps from
the text that can be used as offered, or customized
by importing personal lecture slides or other material; and JoinIn® PowerPoint® slides with clicker
content. Also included is ExamView, an easy-to-

❖

xix

use assessment and tutorial system that allows instructors to create, deliver, and customize tests in
minutes. Instructors can build tests with as many
as 250 questions using up to 12 question types,
and using ExamView’s complete word-processing
capabilities, they can enter an unlimited number
of new questions or edit existing ones.
HistoryFinder This searchable online database
allows instructors to quickly and easily download
thousands of assets, including art, photographs,
maps, primary sources, and audio/video clips. Each
asset downloads directly into a Microsoft® PowerPoint® slide, allowing instructors to easily create
exciting PowerPoint presentations for their classrooms.
Instructor’s Resource Manual Prepared by Diane Moczar of Northern Virginia Community
College, the Instructor’s Resource Manual has
been revised to reflect the new material in the text.
This manual has many features, including chapter
overviews, a section called “What the Students
Should Know,” lecture possibilities, topics for
class discussion, group learning projects, a section
called “Thinking Beyond the Facts,” and film and
CD-ROM bibliographies. The Instructor’s Resource Manual is available on the instructor’s

companion site.
WebTutor™ on Blackboard® With WebTutor’s
text-specific, pre-formatted content and total flexibility, instructors can easily create and manage
their own custom course website. WebTutor’s
course management tool gives instructors the ability to provide virtual office hours, post syllabi, set
up threaded discussions, track student progress
with the quizzing material, and much more. For
students, WebTutor offers real-time access to a full
array of study tools, including animations and
videos that bring the book’s topics to life, plus
chapter outlines, summaries, learning objectives,
glossary flashcards (with audio), practice quizzes,
and web links.

Student Resources
Book Companion Site A website for students
that features a wide assortment of resources,
which have been revised to reflect the new material in the text, to help students master the subject matter. The website, prepared by Mark Seidl,
includes a glossary, flashcards, crossword puzzles, chapter summaries, tutorial quizzes, essay


xx ❖ Preface
questions, web links, matching exercises, and
web fieldtrips.
Wadsworth Western Civilization Resource
Center Wadsworth’s Western Civilization Resource Center gives your students access to a “virtual reader” with hundreds of primary sources
including speeches, letters, legal documents and
transcripts, poems, maps, simulations, timelines,
and additional images that bring history to life,
along with interactive assignable exercises. A map

feature including Google Earth™ coordinates and
exercises will aid in student comprehension of geography and use of maps. Students can compare
the traditional textbook map with an aerial view
of the location today. It’s an ideal resource for
study, review, and research. In addition to this
map feature, the resource center also provides
blank maps for student review and testing.
Rand McNally Historical Atlas of Western Civilization, 2e This valuable resource features over
45 maps, including maps that highlight classical
Greece and Rome; maps documenting European
civilization during the Renaissance; maps that follow events in Germany, Russia, and Italy as they
lead up to World Wars I and II; maps that show
the dissolution of Communism in 1989; maps
documenting language and religion in the western
world; and maps describing the unification and
industrialization of Europe.
Document Exercise Workbook Prepared by
Donna Van Raaphorst, Cuyahoga Community
College. A collection of exercises based on primary sources, this workbook is available in two
volumes.
Music of Western Civilization Available free to
adopters, and for a small fee to students, this CD
contains a broad sampling of many important musical pieces of Western Civilization.
Exploring the European Past A web-based collection of documents and readings that give students first-hand insight into the period. Each
module also includes rich visual sources that help
put the documents into context, helping the students to understand the work of the historian.
Writing for College History, 1e Prepared by
Robert M. Frakes, Clarion University. This brief
handbook for survey courses in American history,
Western Civilization/European history, and world

civilization guides students through the various
types of writing assignments they encounter in a

history class. Providing examples of student writing and candid assessments of student work, this
text focuses on the rules and conventions of writing for the college history course.
The History Handbook, 1e Prepared by Carol
Berkin of Baruch College, City University of New
York and Betty Anderson of Boston University.
This book teaches students both basic and historyspecific study skills such as how to read primary
sources, research historical topics, and correctly
cite sources. Substantially less expensive than
comparable skill-building texts, The History
Handbook also offers tips for Internet research
and evaluating online sources.
Doing History: Research and Writing in the
Digital Age, 1e Prepared by Michael J. Galgano, J.
Chris Arndt, and Raymond M. Hyser of James
Madison University. Whether you’re starting down
the path as a history major, or simply looking for a
straightforward and systematic guide to writing a
successful paper, you’ll find this text to be an indispensible handbook to historical research. This text’s
“soup to nuts” approach to researching and writing
about history addresses every step of the process,
from locating your sources and gathering information, to writing clearly and making proper use of
various citation styles to avoid plagiarism. You’ll
also learn how to make the most of every tool available to you—especially the technology that helps
you conduct the process efficiently and effectively.
The Modern Researcher, 6e Prepared by Jacques
Barzun and Henry F. Graff of Columbia University. This classic introduction to the techniques of
research and the art of expression is used widely in

history courses, but is also appropriate for writing
and research methods courses in other departments. Barzun and Graff thoroughly cover every
aspect of research, from the selection of a topic
through the gathering, analysis, writing, revision,
and publication of findings presenting the process
not as a set of rules but through actual cases that
put the subtleties of research in a useful context.
Part One covers the principles and methods of research; Part Two covers writing, speaking, and
getting one’s work published.
Reader Program Cengage Learning publishes a
number of readers, some containing exclusively
primary sources, others a combination of primary
and secondary sources, and some designed to
guide students through the process of historical